Chapter 2424: Love for the Evil God's Faith 29

Holy City Curia.

The news that Samuel had been abducted by the Dark Evil God sparked panic and chaos.

The Knight Order poured out in full force, searching every inch of land, even venturing into the perilous northern border, yet found nothing.

High Priest Samuel seemed to have vanished from the world.

Brandon regretted not having personally witnessed Samuel's divine punishment, yet he also seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

He used his identity as a "Survivor" to loudly proclaim inside and outside the Curia, claiming to have witnessed the truth of Samuel's disappearance:

Samuel was by no means a divinely favored one.

He worshipped the Dark Evil God, a master of disguise, and his veins flowed with corrupt dark magic.

He was a minion of darkness, a traitor who deceived everyone!

His abduction might very well be his return to the embrace of darkness!

Thus, the faithful in the Holy City were seized by great panic.

Having lost the divine portent and Samuel, their spiritual pillar, and confronted with Brandon's earnest accusations plus the undeniable fact that Samuel could not be found, more and more people began to waver.

Bishop Cyril, exhausted, under pressure also had to temporarily accept this explanation.

The Curia and the Holy Temple Knight Order jointly issued a highest-level wanted order.

On the wanted poster, Samuel's holy visage was painted with shadows symbolizing darkness and distorted patterns.

The portrait of the once-divinely favored one was publicly burned.

He became the Holy City's most infamous blasphemer and dark apostle in history.

With the issuance of the wanted order, the open search for Samuel gradually ceased.

The Supreme Bishop's succession ceremony, amid a heavy and eerie atmosphere, also had to be put back on the agenda.

Brandon was about to become the new Supreme Bishop.

——

The cathedral's vaulted ceiling soared high; the faithful held their breath, the royalty and Curia dignitaries sat in their seats, and the Holy Temple Knight Order stood stiffly on both sides.

The aged Supreme Bishop Cyril wore the most solemn holy robes, his old fingers trembling slightly.

He did not wish to pass the Supreme Bishop's seat to Brandon, but rules were rules, and he could not defy them.

Clad in fresh bishop's vestments, Brandon stood at his side, spine straight.

Above the square, a sea of people stood silently in solemn silence.

"Please, Father God, bear witness." Cyril unfurled the parchment scroll, his voice low and solemn.

Brandon knelt devoutly, hands clasped before his chest, ready to receive the investiture.

But the instant his knee touched the ground, a sharp pain exploded from his joints like countless needles stabbing into his flesh.

He grunted, cold sweat instantly beading his forehead, staggering as he tried to steady himself, yet he lurched uncontrollably.

Under countless astonished gazes, Brandon, clad in bishop's vestments, tumbled helplessly down the high altar steps!

His splendid robes were smeared with dust, rolling several times before coming to a stop at the base of the steps.

Everyone was stunned by this sudden turn, whispers spreading like a tide.

"Good heavens……"

"Is Father God unwilling to let Lord Brandon become a bishop?"

"Impossible…… this is impossible……"

Brandon felt dizzy and saw stars, his whole body aching as if his bones had come apart; the humiliation nearly drove him mad.

He struggled to his feet, not bothering to brush off the dust, and crawled up the altar steps again using hands and feet!

"Father God! Father God!"

Brandon's face turned deathly pale as he hoarsely shouted to the heavens, "I helped you expose Samuel's disguise and revealed that dark god‑thief! Why have you not granted me your blessing? Why treat me thus?"

He had just climbed two steps when that invisible force descended again, stronger than before.

Brandon felt his feet as if frozen to the stone steps.

"Bang!"

This time he rolled farther and more miserably, his forehead striking the edge of a step, instantly swelling and splitting, blood seeping out.

The painstakingly prepared bishop's crown also rolled askew to the side.

"It's because what you believe in is a counterfeit."

A clear, tranquil voice, like jade, cut through Brandon's desperate howl.

Everyone stared in shock toward the sound.

Only at the edge of the square did the crowd part as if split by an invisible force.

Samuel walked forward slowly, his pure white holy robe unstained, outlining a tall, slender figure.

The members of the Holy Temple Knight Order ought to have stepped forward to block him, but their feet were rooted to the ground.

They had personally witnessed countless times when Father God bestowed a divine portent upon Samuel; their hands gripping swords loosened then tightened as they watched him stride step by step toward the altar.

"Seize him! Quickly seize him!" Brandon pointed at Samuel, shrieking hysterically at the Knight Order and the crowd.

But no one dared to actually stop him.

Samuel walked up to the wretched Brandon's feet and halted.

He lowered his gaze slightly, "Did you hear? The Father God you believe in is a fake."

Then he bent closer, whispering so only the two could hear, word by word, "What a pity, your Father God Zephyros… has already passed away."

Brandon's eyes suddenly widened.

"Gone? No…… impossible!"

Samuel no longer looked at him, rose straight, and walked straight toward the high platform. Cyril stared blankly at him, his aged eyes flickering with a hint of dazed.

Just as Sai Miu Er stepped onto the final step, holy light suddenly poured down from the vault above.

As if the gates of heaven had opened, it enveloped the altar above.

Within the light pillar, a tall, slender light silhouette slowly emerged.

Jin Chen's silhouette was blurry yet majestic, divine pressure filling the entire church.

The crowd instantly erupted.

"Father God!"

Bu Lan Wen shouted, "Fake, that's fake! It's a disguise by the dark evil god! Don't believe him!"

The believers were at a loss, unsure whether to kneel or to question.

At that moment, orderly footsteps came from behind the main hall. The crowd turned; behind the square, dozens of elders in the vestments of priests from various nations and sects could be seen, led by the Holy Temple Knight, striding excitedly toward the front of the altar.

At their head, an elderly priest with white hair and high prestige spoke in a trembling voice.

"All high-ranking church priests on the continent received Father God's divine revelation in their dreams last night!"

"Father God commanded us to come here to bear witness for Priest Sai Miu Er, for the true chosen one!"

Bu Lan Wen froze in place, lips trembling.

All believers:!!!

Father God, what a grand display!

The last doubts vanished instantly—so many church leaders have personally come to testify; how could it still be fake?!

The believers hesitated no longer, including the royal representatives and all members of the Holy Temple Knight Order, who all knelt down.

"No... this isn't right... not like this..." Bu Lan Wen stubbornly refused to believe.

But just as Sai Miu Er lingered on the high platform, receiving the investiture, flowers bloomed everywhere outside the square.

Bu Lan Wen collapsed limp on the steps below, watching the scene before him.

The majestic, divine figure in the light pillar, Sai Miu Er bathed in divine light on the high platform...

His gaze scattered, he turned madly, shoving aside the crowd blocking his way, and stumbled outward toward the outside of the square.